US men oust Argentina, will play Spain for gold

US men oust Argentina, will play Spain for gold

LONDON (AP) -- Kevin Durant scored 19 points, Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James added 18 apiece and the U.S. men's Olympic basketball team pushed aside Argentina 109-83 on Friday in the semifinals.

The U.S. will play Spain for the gold medal -- a rematch of the final at the Beijing Games won by the Americans four years ago.

With James doing a little of everything, the Americans finally pulled away in the third quarter from the Argentines, whose strong outside shooting had them within six points at halftime. But the defending bronze medalists eventually cooled off and the U.S. team moved into Sunday's final -- as expected.

Spain rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to beat Russia 67-59 in the first semifinal.
James added seven rebounds and seven assists before taking a seat in the fourth quarter.
Manu Ginobili scored 18 to lead Argentina, which will play Russia on Sunday for the bronze medal.

Can the Caps beat the Buffalo Sabres for the third time in two weeks? Stream the game via CSNmidatlantic.com/CapitalsStream or tune in to CSN at 6:30 p.m. for coverage. Here is everything you need to know:

What: Washington Capitals at Buffalo Sabres

Where: KeyBank Center, Buffalo, N.Y.

When: Saturday, 12/3 at 7:00 p.m. ET.

How to Watch: Capitals GameTime airs at 6:30 p.m. followed by Capitals at Sabres on CSN Mid-Atlantic.

When is the Capitals-Sabres game?

The Capitals (15-7-2) play the Buffalo Sabres (10-10-6) Friday at 7:00 p.m. ET.

What channel is the Capitals-Sabres game on?

The Capitals-Sabres game is broadcast on CSN. The coverage of the game begins at 6:30 p.m. with Capitals GameTime. The game begins at 7:00 p.m with Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin. For postgame coverage, stick around for Caps Extra following the game. (CSN channel Finder)

With the NHL's Olympic participation in serious doubt, Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis reaffirmed his support Friday of Alex Ovechkin should the team captain choose to leave in the middle of the NHL season to go to the Olympics.

"He has given a lot to our team and he doesn’t ask for much in return and whatever he likes to do in this one, I’ll support him,” Leonsis said, per Josh Cooper of Puck Daddy. "His mother was an Olympian. It’s a part of the tradition in the family and it is meaningful to him, and he’s kind of the ambassador and captain of the team. We don’t sit and talk about this all the time, but he needs to know, and he does know, that in this one instance I’ll have his back.”

Ovechkin first stated he would leave to play in Sochi for the 2014 Olympics even if the NHL did not participate. At media day for the World Cup of Hockey, Ovechkin vowed again to leave the Caps midseason in 2018 to participate in the Pyeongchang Olympics.

The difference in the two situations is that Olympic participation is not a guarantee in 2018. It seemed very unlikely that the NHL would not play in Sochi considering how many Russian players are in the league.